FMC in the News: 2014

Today, in a national Day of Action, net neutrality advocates will stage a protest outside the FCC building in Washington, DC, as well as smaller protests at FCC offices across the country and numerous online actions. Democracy for America, reddit, the Future of Music Coalition,The Nation and many other organizations have all signed on to step up today in the fight for real net neutrality. (Read more)

Lots of famous musicians, not least Michael Stipe, have added their weight to the ongoing net neutrality debate in the US, which is back in the news because America’s media regulator the FCC is reviewing its internet rules following a court battle with net giant Verizon.

The basic principle of net neutrality is that, as data moves over the net, all data is treated the same oblivious of origin. Some in the net sector want to offer a virtual fastlane, which would give data from certain sources – ie companies or institutions who pay a premium – priority. But there are plenty of opponents to that idea, including the stack of artists who have put their names to an open letter written by the Future Of Music Coalition to Tom Wheeler, chairman at the FCC. read more

Pity poor FCC chairman Tom Wheeler. Not only does he have some corporate heavyweights such as Verizon and Cisco opposing net neutrality and others such as Google and Microsoft supporting it, he now has another group voicing its concerns: rockers, poets, actors, and other members of “the creative community.”

“The open Internet’s impact on the creative community cannot be overstated,” a group of 60 such worthies wrote in an open letter to Wheeler on Tuesday. “The Internet has enabled artists to connect directly with each other and with audiences.”

A barrage of high-profile artists have joined forces to present a unified voice in defense of net neutrality, issuing a statement in advance of the May 15th vote at the Federal Communications Commission. The proposal aims to open the floodgates of tiered access and restricted dissemination online, driven by the likes of Comcast and Time Warner Cable to jack up fees from websites for faster download speeds.

Tom Wheeler, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is having a tough week. With the clock counting down to a crucial vote on his controversial net neutrality plan, Wheeler is scrambling to rally support. But he’s having difficulty finding any.

Eddie Vedder has joined more than 50 musicians, writers, poets, actors, and other artists, including Michael Stipe, Tom Morello, Kimya Dawson, Boots Riley, and Jill Sobule, in signing a letter to FCC Chairman Thomas Wheeler voicing opposition of his current proposed changes to net neutrality and calling them a threat to artistic freedom and integrity. Here’s a small excerpt:

The Future of Music Coalition and Free Press have organized a letter to encourage FCC chairman Tom Wheeler to uphold net neutrality. The letter argues that new rules proposed by Wheeler would favor corporations like AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon over individual artists and creators.

What happens to the Internet will shape what happens to music, along with every other aspect of culture and free speech. A reported plan that would change the way cable and telephone companies can charge for online content goes to a crucial vote at the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday, May 15.

The proposal, which — according to The Wall Street Journal — would allow the likes of Comcast and Time Warner Cable to demand extra fees from websites for faster download speeds, has already faced so much public backlash that the Journal now reports FCC head Tom Wheeler has tweaked the plan in hopes of getting it approved.

According to The Pulse Of Radio, PEARLJAM’s Eddie Vedder, Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello, Aerosmith’s Joe Perry and many other musicians and creative artists have signed a letter in favor of keeping net neutrality, the policy that makes the Internet a level playing field for all web sites. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is considering a change in the rules that would allow corporate behemoths like Comcast and Time Warner Cable to demand extra fees from websites for faster download speeds, potentially allowing discrimination against online content that is not able to pay for special treatment. read more